The Last Ride
by StayStrongxox
Summary: Five Friends. One Car. One Crash is all it takes to turn Joey's life upside down... ONESHOT


**Just a little one shot that I had to write. After watching the final part of The Crash on BBC3 tonight, I needed to write this so I could feel better... **

**A/N: If you haven't watched it... Go on BBC Iplayer and watch it. It seriously highlights the danger of driving and overtaking on a bend when you THINK you have enough time. It shows the impact it has on the family, the friends and the community... But most importantly, it shows just how quickly your life could change, in just one blink...**

**Anyway on with the story :) X**

* * *

Present

He was numb. Numb. He couldn't feel anything. He had tuned himself out of the world, focusing on one thing. A photo of them both. He sat on his bed, her black jacket that she loved so much, clutched in his hands as he breathed in her scent, as the tears fell freely from his eyes.

_**Flashback**_

_**Lauren pulled Joey up the steps, unlocking the door to her house and shutting the door behind her. She barely had time to close it, before Joey pushed her up against it, kissing her. After a week of being halfway across the world on holiday with her mum, dad and Abi, it was safe to see Lauren was glad to be back in Joey's arms. She put her hands on his shoulders and walked him backwards to the stairs. Joey felt his back hit the stairs as Lauren removed her jacket, all without the breaking the kiss, which had started to get heated.**_

_**'Lauren... God, I've missed you' he murmured, grabbing the back of her head and clashing their lips together. Somehow, they managed to make it upstairs, Joey's jacket getting thrown halfway down the stairs, as they headed to Lauren's room. She pushed up against Abi's bedside table, as she shut the door behind her. She felt Joey's hands slid under her shirt and bringing it over her head and throwing to the floor, leaving her in a thin strapped top and her jeans. She felt Joey push her backwards towards her bed, the make out session turned heated as he attacked her neck roughly. Joey helped Lauren pulled his shirt over his head, and smiled down at her.**_

_**'I take it you missed, baby' he whispered**_

_**'Shh, Abi will be back in half an hour. I'm taking full advantage of this empty house' Lauren whispered back to him, before connecting their lips again. They were so caught up in each other, that they didn't hear footsteps running up the stairs or Lauren's bedroom been flung open up.**_

_**'LAUREN! Your back!' shouted Alic,e Joey quickly rolle doff Lauren, in case Max and Tanya had followed Alice up stairs. Lauren groaned as Alice hugged her tightly.**_

_**'Thank god your back. This one has been driving me crazy!' she exclaimed, pointing at Joey, not seeing to care that she had interrupted them both...**_

* * *

_**A few hours later, Alice, Joey, Lauren. Fats and Poppy were all driving along a deserted road. The rain making it harder to see, as they hurried along the narrow road.**_

_**'I didn't know you liked Two Door Cinema Club?' Poppy asked Fatboy, as she searched for a CD. Fatboy took a quick glance at her before turning his attention to the road, and smiled.**_

_**'It's Joey. He's into it...' he answered. Joey managed to tear himself away from Lauren's lips, to grab the CD out of Poppy's hands.**_

_**'I'll have that back, thank you' he said, grabbing it and then turning his attention back to Lauren, making Alice groan.**_

_**'Oh for Christ sake, please. Not again' she groaned, wishing she had stayed in with Kat or gone to see Carol and Bianca, instead of watching her brother and their cousin make out. Bright lights behind them caught Alice's attention. She turned in the seat and saw a red car drive past them and swerve in front of them. Fatboys slowed down on the accelerator.**_

_**'Whoa. Jesus, the prick' he said, glancing in his rear view mirror and then back to the road.**_

_**'Listen, seeing as I'm going away for two weeks on Friday... I thought we could celebrate our anniversary a few days early, seeing as I'll miss it. We could have a picnic, then take a moonlit walk, and then go to a fancy hotel and...' Poppy trailed off suggestively**_

_**'Okay. One, your worse than these two, and Two, I don't want to hear what your planning on doing to celebrate your anniversary... OW!' exclaimed Alice, as a hand hit her head. She turned her head and Joey still kissing Lauren, but looking at her, sending her a warning through his eyes. Alice rolled her eyes and tturned her attention to watching Fatboy drive. After watching the car in front for a few minutes, it was obvious that the car in front was trying to annoy them, by driving slow on purpose. Even Lauren and Joey had pulled themselves away from each other to observe what had slowed Fatboy's driving down. Fatboy sighed and checked his mirrors, before signalling to to overtake. As he got level with the red car, he signalled to pull back in, when the red car sped up, not allowing Fatboy to pull back in. Bright lights, screams and glass shattering were the last things they all heard, as everything went black...**_

* * *

_**Alice was the first to come round. She groaned as she woke, letting out a cry of pain. The first thing she noticed was the wind screen was gone. he slowly eased herself up and saw she was the only one still in the car and that terrified her. She managed to slide herself out and get to her feet, looking around. She gasped as she saw Lauren and Joey near each other, their fingers lightly entwined. The world started to spin and her head was clouded with thoughts. She started to stumble as the reality started to dawn on her on, when she stumbled over something... or rather someone.**_

_**'FATS! Oh my god! Oh god!' Alice exclaimed, falling to her knees besides him. Fatboy tried to sit up and speak, but it was too mcuh for him as blood poured from the corner of his mouth.**_

_**'FATS! Fats please! Don't go!' cried Alice, as Fats tried to speak, blood spluttering from his mouth before he gave into the peacefulness of death.**_

_**'FATS! NO!' Alice cried, as she saw the life fade from him. She choked on a sob and her brain snapped into safety mode. She pulled out her phone with a shaky hand and dialled 999. After explaining where they were and screaming at them to hurry, she hung up. She looked round for Poppy and found her lying at the other side of the car.**_

_**'Poppy? Poppy, can you hear me? Poppy?' said Alice, shaking her. She heard a car door slam and someone running onto the field towards her.**_

_**'Miss? Mis, what's happened? Have you called an ambulance?' the person said. Alice nodded.**_

_**'Right, I'm going to need you name, miss' said the man. Alice looked at him**_

_**'Al... Alice' she said**_

_**'Alice, my name's Jake. I'll stay here with your friend. What's her name?' he asked**_

_**'Poppy... But Fat's I think... I think he's...' Alice trailed off as it crashed over her that Fats was dead. Her hand started to shake. **_

_**'Right, you need to sit down... How long did the ambulance say it was going to be?' asked Jake, placing his jacket around Alice's shoulders...**_

* * *

_**Joey let out a groan, as pain shot through his body, more so his arm. He opened his eyes and saw fields. Miles and miles or fields, before it came flooding back to him. He tried to lift his head, but it felt like bricks were weighing it down. He let out another groan and tried to lift his head again, this time succeeding. He manage to turn his head, so his chin was resting on the earth. He realised Lauren was lying infront of him, unconscious.**_

_**'Baby? Lauren? Lauren, baby. Wake up. Wake up, it's Joey' he groaned, as he tried to move forward to her, to see if she was okay. He heard her groan and clutch his fingers tighter.**_

_**'It's okay, baby. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're going to be fine. We're all going to be fine. I promise you' he said. He watched as Lauren, with great difficultly, lifted her head and rested her chin on the earth, so she was facing Joey. He gasped at how pale she was. He saw that her eyes were flickering to stay open, like she was going to give in at any moment.**_

_**'Babe? Babe, listen to my voice. Listen to me, you're going to be fine. We're going to be fine. The ambulance will be on its way... Bbae, don't close your eyes. Focus on my voice...' said Joey, shaking her hand, the one that was clasped together. Lauren whimpered in pain as her eyes struggled to stay open.**_

_**'Joey...' she choked out. Joey had a sense of what hse trying to say**_

_**'Lauren, don't. You're going to be fine' Joey said, trying to convince himself as well. Her hand felt cold, too cold.**_

_**'Lauren!' he choked out, shaking her hand, ignoring the pain shooting through his bodY**_

_**'Joey, I want to sleep' she groaned. Joey shook his head**_

_**'No! Not yet. Look, the ambulance is here. We're not allowed to sleep until we're in the ambulance, okay?' said Joey. Lauren whimpered in response, as pain racked through her body...**_

* * *

_**Max and Tanya burst through the doors of Walford General, an hour later with Abi behind them with Jay. The corridors were deserted, except for one.**_

_**'Excuse me! Our daughter. Lauren Branning? She was brought in from a car accident?' asked Max**_

_**'You'll need the nurses station, Next floor up' replied the nurse, before heading off back down the corridor. The Brannings and Jay rushed to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly.**_

_**'C'mon! C'mon!' gritted Max through his teeth. The elvator finally appeared and they headed in, their eyes catching sight of a trolley with bloody sheets on it..**_

* * *

_**Max, Tanya, Abi and Jay were pacing around in the waiting room when the door opened to reveal Joey, his arm in a sling and a few stitches in his face.**_

_**'Joey! Sit down!' said Max, guiding him to a seat. The other sat round him. Max sighed and clapped him gently on the shoulder.**_

_**'Joey... I need to know... How's Lauren?' he asked, dreading the answer  
**_

_**'She was okay the last time I saw her. She was just conscious, then the ambulance came and took her away. Since then, I haven't heard anything...' said Joey, looking down at his lap. Max clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. Even that tiny bit of information was enough to keep him sane, for the minute.**_

_**'Excuse me? Mr and Mrs Branning?' asked a nurse, as she knocked on the door, half an hour later. The Brannings and Jay stood up.**_

_**'Yes?' replied Tanya. The nurse walked into the room and shut the door. **_

_**'Can you remember what Lauren was wearing tonight?' asked Nurse Smith. Tanya frowned nad thought for a moment.**_

_**'Erm.. We've just got back from holiday, so... erm... probably a leather jacket, black. I'm sorry... I can't...' Tanya trailed off, trying to remember what Lauren was wearing**_

_**'Does she,,, paint her nails?' asked Nurse Smith. The others in the room were getting confused. Why was she asking them this? The question was answered by Tanya**_

_**'Oh my god! Her nails were lilac.. NO!' she screamed, her legs giving out from under her. Max grabbed a chair and lowered her into it.**_

_**'Tanya?' asked Max, wondering what was wrong.**_

_**'Not our Lauren. Not our Lauren!' she cried, rocking back and forth. Joey's snapped up to the nurse as he realised what this meant. He lowered himself into a seat.**_

_**'But... she was talking to me. She was talking to me1 She was fine!' he exclaimed, as his eyes blurred and spilled tears from his eyes. Nurse Smith knelt down and looked at the family and Jay.  
**_

_**'When Lauren was brought in... She was very poorly. We did everything we could... We really did, but we lost her. I'm sorry'...**_

_**End of flashback**_

* * *

Back to the present

That was a week ago. A whole week since he had last seen Lauren. Even when he tried to sleep, he couldn't see her in his dreams. It was like she didn't exist. She hadn't even been back a whole day and she was cruelly ripped away from him. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table in his room. The redness of the numbers hurting his eyes. 2:03am. He sighed and got under the covers, resting his head on her jacket, keeping it close. Just as he started to drift off, a voice stopped him._**  
**_

'Baby? Joey?'. His eyes snapped open. He knew that voice anywhere. He shot up in bed and saw Lauren standing in his room, at the other end. He gasped at seeing her. She was dressed in her favourite dress, her burgundy skater dress and her black wedges, her hair was curled perfectly and her make up was flawless, the tan required on holiday iluminating her skin.

'Baby! Lauren!' he exclaimed, climbing out of bed to go hug her, but he froze when Lauren held out her hands to stop him.

'Not yet. Not yet, babe' she said, Joey frowned, but thought nothing of it, even though he was a little hurt. She smiled at him and looked at him.

'How have you been?' she asked, perching against his bedside table

'How have I been? Babe, I've been a wreck! I can't eat or sleep. I can't go out into the Square because I know I'll see Luce or Whit and all the memories will come rushing back... and to be honest, I'm not ready for that yet. I don't want other people's sympathy, I want you, Lauren!' he said. Lauren smiled sadly.

'It was my time, Joey. Mine and Fats. There's nothing you can do to bring me or Fats back, baby' she said sadly. Joey sniffed. He couldn't believe he was talking to her.

'I really miss you, baby. How am I going to cope without you?' he asked

'You going to have to. But I'll always be here. One step behind you, and I'll always be in here..' she said, putting her hand to her chest, where her heart was. Joey smiled sadly.

'Will I be able to talk you again? like this/' he asked

'Would you like that?' she asked

'Of course!' said Joey, looking her straight in the eyes. She smiled at him and sat next to him on the bed, causing Joey to hold back his willpower to touch her.

'Then close your eyes...' said Lauren. Joey frowned, but did as he was asked. He suddenly felt cold, like cold air blowing over him

'Lauren?' he asked, wondering if she was still there

'Open your eyes' she said. His eyes snapped open and she was still standing in front of him. He slightly laughed.

'Babe, nothing happened' he said. Lauren smiled and placed on his. Joey was expecting to feel cold, ice lips on his... but he didn't. Instead, he felt warm, soft lips pressed against his. He felt Lauren slightly gasp, and took advantage. He wound his fingers in her hair, and snaked his tongue into her mouth. He felt himself being pushed down on the bed, when his head hit something. He scrambled away when he realized it was... him?

'You don't remember taking the pills, do you?' asked Lauren standing next to him, lacing her fingers through his. Joey was momentarily stunned., when the truth dawned on him.

'I'm dead?' he exclaimed, turning to look at Lauren, who nodded.

'You took the pills because you couldn't stand another day without me. You died when I came for you, Joey' she said softly. Joey nodded, as he got his head round it.

'Do you want to say goodbye to Alice first?' said Lauren. Joey looked at her and nodded. He walked out of his room and into Alice's, seeing his sister's sleeping form.

'Goodbye, Alice. I love you and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry' he whispered to her, kissing her forehead. He watched as she frowned in her sleep. He took one last look at his sister and headed back into his room, to where Lauren was. She smiled as he walked back in.

'You ready?' she asked. Joey nodded, but then stopped

'Does it hurt? Crossing over to the other side?' he asked

'Nope. Painless. Promise' said Lauren, smiling her cheeky Lauren smile at him. He smiled back and he watched as they faded from the room, from the earth and into forever, with each other...

* * *

**Now, I've wrote this I'm about to fall asleep. It's 2:13am right now. So, Night/ Morning :)  
**

**A/N: R&R :) Xx**


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